Were you spanked as a kid? If so with what?

[yurbud]

Poll question: Were you spanked as a kid? If so with what?

I guess I'd need a separate poll to find out if people thought it did any good.

[redqueen]

1. yes, with stuff that would violate the convention...

did more harm than good i think

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. hello miss...how are you?

i am sorry that happened to you :hug:

[redqueen]

9. aww hello there friend, doing well thanks... and you?

no worries... water under the bridge, as they say.

and bright side - tempering makes things stronger yes?

[tigereye]

71. hi RQ!

how are ya?

[redqueen]

104. can't complain, thanks!

hope you're doing well. :hi:

[tigereye]

107. ah, sure you can!

not too bad here - a boatload of work (slowing down now, fortunately, I was glued to the keyboard there for a while). My h changed jobs (again), but he seems happy about it. Kid got his first "letter grades" - that was strange. It's nice when they are where they should be, but now I get to say " that one needs to improve!" Hooray for me....

Otherwise, it's the usual.

[redqueen]

108. the usual...

...

my girls get nearly straight a's, so I feel weird chastising them for the occasional b. hah, still do it, though.

[tigereye]

111. wish you well in your journey

next time I'll pm ya.

[fladonkey]

127. Don't feel....

sorry. My mother was an excellent mother who did a great job raising two kids on a minimum wage job. We never went without food, a roof over our head, clothes, and anything that is really important. We didn't have a TV for years but we never thought we were poor. She died last Halloween and I miss her terribly

[Phillycat]

3. If only it had been sane enough for them to have a specific thing to use.

Instead, they just used whatever was handy - belts, yardsticks, wooden spoons, etc.

[Schema Thing]

45. bicycle chain

now that leaves welts.

fortunately, that was an exception.

[Phillycat]

46. Oh man.

Never had that. Had a wire hanger a couple of times. That's a good sting, but I think a bike chain would be WAY worse.

[AngryAmish]

4. Wooden spoon and hand

[KamaAina]

61. Ah yes, the dreaded wooden spoon

employed by Mom for this purpose right up until she broke one over my... well, anyway, that was that. No more spanking after that.

[MrCoffee]

5. my dad should be brought up on charges

i mean, i fell. yeah, i fell.

[redqueen]

17. was he of the 'hit 'em where the clothes cover it up' camp?

wily bastards!

[MrCoffee]

18. more of the "lie to the doctor/teacher/concerned person" school.

he didn't worry too much about where he hit me.

[redqueen]

22. ah

yeah, the lying goes with all of it i think. that whole let's play pretend in public thing.

sorry... :hug:

[MrCoffee]

23. sounds like you're a survivor too...

suffice it to say that i haven't been home for the holidays in years.

:hug:

[crim son]

6. I'm a hairbrush school of discipline graduate.

Sometimes she used a wooden spoon. They both hurt.

[Omphaloskepsis]

7. My parents were busy beating the shit out of each other...

I could shit in the oven (only did that once) and they wouldn't notice.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

8. It was more hit than spank.

Of course, this stopped once I hit HS age. Once I cracked up hysterically laughing at my mother after she slapped me, she just stopped and said, "you don't find me scary?" and I told her "no" and kept laughing at her. Another time, my dad knocked me down and I jumped up and gave him a black eye. Never hit me again.

I don't hold it against them. They never really physically hurt me, but it didn't accomplish any good either. I just got pissed off at them. It had no effect on my behavior.

[NashVegas]

10. Short Term, Good, But

It's not so much that I was harmed - I wasn't. (Hand.)

But now that I look back at it with a very different eye, I can recall that while those few spankings were effective, they didn't exactly help to gain respect for their administrator.

[buddhamama]

11. no,

i was punished by having privileges, toys, etc., taken away.

[leftofthedial]

12. fly swatter

slipper

hand


never very hard

[Mad_Dem_X]

58. Another fly swatter person!

It's comforting to know I wasn't the only one!

[Phillycat]

60. I was really glad when I saw a couple of other "yardsticks" on here

Weird how comforting it is to know another person has experienced the same thing. I would never own a yardstick, would never have one in my house. I remember too clearly the day it broke across my back.

[yurbud]

87. a babysitter broke one on my brother's ass. I figured it was like a built in safety valve

the stick would break if beater got too psycho.

[Phillycat]

98. Depends on the stick.

They made these really heavy thick ones too, that you could buy in the harware store. And metal ones - but my mom only hit me with that once because it made me bleed right away.

[Divameow77]

13. Belt, wooden spoon

and belt. Actually the wooden spoons kept breaking, then my mom found this really strong plastic spoon that hurt like hell.

[Phillycat]

16. Oh man, we had the plastic spoon too.

Welts for DAYS.

[barb162]

26. yep or else anything within reach

[Divameow77]

32. My parents divorced when I was 5

and I lived with mom. My younger half-siblings had it much worse with my dad and stepmom though, bruises, welt's, etc. My father once put my sister across his lap and spanked her so hard with a belt she pee'd on him.

[barb162]

34. ouch... I am glad she peed on him. I hope he didn't hit

her harder for that

[Hugin]

14. A combination of psyops and torture...

I usually earned it.

The beatings started with the phrase: 'Go cut a switch...'

Over time I learned to get the dry sticks and not the little thin green twigs.

[rhiannon55]

31. The switch

was a nasty little stick. My mom used it occasionally, and I hated it. My dad never hit us at all.

[Sequoia]

54. Switches off a Bush.

Also a paddle, brush, ruler, hand. I know a woman who'd make her daughters strip down, lay across the bed and have at them. When they got older (teens)they ran away from home. I've never spanked my kid.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Usually by hand

Occasionally with the belt.

No one considered it "brutality" then. I still don't.



Well... not if it's by hand.

:popcorn:

[Connonym]

19. belts, wooden spoons, hair brushes

Plus the standard issue hand spanking. Always on bare ass so that it stung. My mom was a face slapper also.

[Missy Vixen]

20. This is probably TMI

If I was a child right now, my parents would lose me to the state if my father behaved towards me in the manner he did during my childhood. To go along with the corporal punishments, I'd be sentenced to stuff that was way out of control for whatever it was I didn't do -- i.e., forget to take out the garbage? You're grounded for a month.

I'm lucky compared to DH -- his father only tried to choke him to death before he got removed from their home as a kid.

I understand there must be discipline. In some respects, the strictness helped both of us. Getting the hell beat out of us? Uh, no.

Julie

[Beausoir]

74. Hugs, Julie. Sorry you both had to endure that.

I was spanked but very rarely (I can only recall two times) and never to cause pain.

[Missy Vixen]

112. Thank you, Beausoir

I will take those hugs, and send some right back to you. Your kids are lucky to have such a great mommy!

:hugs:
Julie

[GenDem]

99. Same thing at my house growing up

I'm sure that there would be an intervention by child protection, if my fathers discipline tactics were practiced today. My brother and I spent quite a bit of time and money in therapy as adults and the healing finally came for both of us. We can actually laugh about it now.
And my father actually believes that this was an acceptable form of discipline, and that it kept us on the straight and narrow.

[Missy Vixen]

113. Therapy: Been there. Done that.

It's probably the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I'm glad to hear that it helped both you and your brother.

>And my father actually believes that this was an acceptable form of discipline<

My father is dead. DH's father, though, was woefully unprepared for what happened when he tried the above verbiage with me at a family visit several years back. (I asked him if it made him feel more manly to repeatedly assault someone who had no means of defending himself.) Let's just say that my FIL avoids me to this day like vampires avoid wooden stakes and necklaces of garlic.

Julie

[LostinVA]

21. Never my mother, only my father

My mother had been beaten as a child and never hit us.

I was a very good kid, but my Dad has a hair trigger temper. I can't say it did any good, because there was really nothing to "correct" -- just normal kid stuff. I didn't forgive him for this until I was in my early 30's.

My mother's methods weren't abusive, and resulted in me winding up a pretty good kid.

My sister has never allowed my BIL to physically punish my niece and nephew. They're both teenagers now, and good kids. My sister understands that discipline doesn't have to mean violence.

[momophile]

24. it hurt them a lot more than it hurt me...

is what I heard.

[Reverend_Smitty]

25. No, but I was threatened with ass whooping

my mom would do this counting thing to 5...she never said what she was going to do once she got to 5 but I always did what I was told by 3 or 4 if I was really feeling brave.

[crim son]

27. You must have been a good child.

I used the same approach with my daughter when she was little, but she'd stand her ground. For a while I am sorry to admit I tried spanking her, but she stood her ground then too. She's a tough little monkey and I learned through her stubbornness to find creative ways of persuasion that didn't involve physical pain.

[Reverend_Smitty]

33. I could be a brat when I wanted to be...

so I wasn't so much a good child, just a really, really smart child. My parents divorced when I was really little so I learned at a young age how to "play" them, I also learned in who's presence I could get away with murder. So I wouldn't DARE cross my mother and a few other select relatives who put their foot down...but my dad, I could play him like a cheap fiddle. In fact even in my mid-20's I still have him tightly wrapped around my little finger :P

[barb162]

28. the worst is when they'd say this is hurting me more than it's

hurting you. Bullshit, Dad.

[951-Riverside]

29. I was scratched with fingernails, beaten with large tree branches, belts....

and I still have light reminders of the scars I suffered between the age of 4 and 12 but the biggest scar is denial. The person who did this to me denies it ever happened.

[QMPMom]

41. My biological-so-called-mother was an emotional/psychological

abuser (and she physically kicked me). My sister, who grew up in the same house, claims to remember nothing of the abuse. My Dad remembers it. But it's like my sister and I grew up in totally different worlds. She was not the victim of BSCM and has very good memories of her. Don't know how she missed all the fucking torture I went thru with the woman. Sis still denies it all happening to this day. BSCM has been dead for 26 years and I still have the mental scars.

[cobalt1999]

30. The belt from dad's uniform

Only about once/twice a year, but way too hard and much. This was only after he returned from Vietnam and he was a little unstable after that in all aspects of life.

[SOteric]

35. I realise you've written this a multiple choice, but I answering it as an essay question.

In many ways I was quite fortunate. I'm the youngest of 5, and the only girl child my parents had. I was generally well-behaved, and my brothers were somewhat wild. I tended to look near angelic by comparison.

When my parents applied discipline they were not opposed to swift swat with the hand applied directly to the bum in some circumstances, but generally tended to prefer punishments that fit the crime and taught a lesson. The older we got the more responsibilities they gave us, and the more they expected from us.

On the day of my first...*koff*...physical manifestation of budding womanhood, Papa had me put on my best dress and took me out to dinner. Amoung the things he told me that night was that from that day forward it was no longer appropriate for any man; not him, not my brothers, not any male human being, to hit me in anyway for any reason. So, while I was still punished from time to time, from that day forward, never with a swat to the bum again.

[cobalt1999]

37. I love this story.

Your dad had a great idea and I think I like it enough to do the same thing with my daughters.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[yurbud]

83. I should have told my dad I had my period too.

[SOteric]

85. Truly.

I suspect you could have gotten some fabulous gifts and prizes from the National Enquirer too.

[yurbud]

84. that is a great way to teach a lesson a lot of girls don't get

if dad respects you that much, you wouldn't think of taking crap from any other guy (at least I hope not).

[SOteric]

88. I have a pretty good history

of having chosen some wonderful men to be part of my life. Most of my exes are still people with whom I'm close and for whom I would go to considerable lengths. I feel a great deal of the credit goes to both my parents for having given me such positive models of relationships, emotional intimacy, boundaries and self-respect.

[yurbud]

97. geeze, if I lived closer, I'd want to get on that list.

[ganeshji]

36. with a belt

In a way I'm happy for it because it confirmed my childhood suspicion that my dad was too stupid to handle himself any other way. My mom would never dream of hitting me. I don't think it would have crossed her mind to hit me. She just explained what I did wrong and grounded me. Guess who I still speak to?

[youthere]

38. My parents would be in prison today if they did now..

what they did then. I'm the youngest of all my siblings so I 'got off easy' so to speak.I only got the hair pulling, the slaps, and the punches to the stomach. I got a plate broken over my head once.
My older brothers and sisters though...:scared: but believe it or not, the abuse was not nearly as bad as the neglect we suffered, but that's a story for a different day. Everyone knew...teachers, neighbors, family members...but they all just looked the other way.

[raccoon]

39. Hand, flyswatter, yardstick, and my mother was a face slapper, too.

It was about her being pissed off, not about what I did or didn't do. Same for my siblings.

[QMPMom]

40. I was spanked with a yardstick by my dad, a paint stir stick and a paddle

by my grandmother. My grandfather used his hand. My biological-so-called-mother would sometimes use the yardstick but she had arthritis and her hands hurt her so she ended up being a kicker and more of an emotional/psychological abuser.

[catmandu57]

42. With whatever was at hand

Usually my stepfather kept a special strap to administer his beatings with, but sometimes I guess it just wasn't enough, even though i don't remember doing anything that would warrent the severity.
My mother may she rot in hell when she got started she got the blood lust especially when the blood showed up. It was then she would go into an absolute frenzy. I carry visible scars that bitch put on me, and hidden emotional scars as well.

One of their favorite punishments involved a bareass beating with doses of tabasco sauce to loosen up tongues when nobody would admit to doing whatever it was we were getting it for.

They were sadistic, cruel, evil and regularly took out the frustrations of the world on me and my siblings, until i got old enough to fight back, then that shit stopped.

When you stop being a helpless victim and return fire it makes them think.

i don't have kids, have never wanted kids, I don't know if I've inheirited the insane bloodlust or not, I don't want to know.

[Phillycat]

47. Oof.

My parents and your parents ought to get together and go bowling.

There are some people who should never ever procreate. I don't know if that list includes you, but it sure as shit includes both our parents.

[MrCoffee]

48. you stole my stolen quote!

sometimes there's nothing else you can say.

[Missy Vixen]

55. Thank you

>There are some people who should never ever procreate.<

Amen, and amen, and here's to all of us who know that we shouldn't, either, and make sure we don't.

I can't count the number of times people have said to me over the years, "It's different when they're your own." Sure it is. Just ask Susan Smith, or the other thousands of parents per year that beat or kill their children.

Julie

[catmandu57]

68. Well they're dead

My stepfather (spits on ground) is still kicking, but I haven't seen that idiot in years.

[Mad_Dem_X]

59. !

:hug:

[miss_american_pie]

43. My mother never did

My father occasionally spanked with his hand.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

44. Other: "NO-- they used reasonable methods of teaching discipline."

Why isn't there an option like that in your poll? All the NO alternatives make not spanking look bad.

Oh, I get it. Push poll.

[malmapus]

49. Not my parents but my Maw Maw

Figure this is border line Geneva Convention, but she grew these HUGE rose bushes with nice big thorns. If we got into trouble that was bad enough, we had to go out and pick a branch with some nice thorns that met certain requitements that she would then use on us, nice rake across the back of the legs mostly.

My dad favored this old belt that he kept in a drawer in the kitchen.

[PRETZEL]

50. Depended on who did the spanking,

If it was my mom, it was generally a hand to whatever part of the body was closest. No questions asked. We weren't really in for it until my dad got involved. Then it was whatever was closest.

I remember my brother being hit with a vacuum cleaner, had his head bounced off the coffee table, had his hand stabbed for taking the last pork chop. We also had this huge weeping willow tree out back and more than once did I have to go out and get my own whipping switch.

Also, every mom in the neighborhood had the same rights. If one of my friends did something wrong my mom wouldn't hesitate to smack him upside the head. And we knew that if we did something wrong the mom who's house we were at would do the same. Then by the time we'd get home she'd have known about it and we get it all over again.

But to answer the main point of the question, it didn't hurt us at all. Every one of us grew up respecting other people's property and respecting the people we were with. We never talked back to people older than us and we were never, never disrespectful.

[One_Life_To_Give]

51. Couple times, usually did much worse

Was threatened with "Belt"
This vile instrument of medeival torture. The mere thought of it would cause your bottom to ache in anticipation of that beating. And then there was the torture device which could not be directly mentioned. The "Your going to wish you hadn't" A device so horrific that to even directly describe it would probably violate the Geneva Convention. So we kids did our best to avoid it.

But the single most painful item of pain and torture administered usually came from my mother.
It was the dreaded, "I am very dissapointed in you." Just thinking about that is still painful today.

[BarenakedLady]

52. This thread is breaking my heart.

I'm so sorry that you all went through all of that.

:grouphug:

[Beausoir]

75. I agree. This is heartbreaking..to see that so many friends have

suffered.

[yurbud]

82. I didn't think this would get the response it did.

[Kali]

56. not very often but usually pretty unfair

hairbrush, wire hanger, belt, hand

the verbal and mental abuse was (is still) much worse


I weep for all of us, some of the descriptions above are heartbreaking.

[Mad_Dem_X]

57. Spanked by hand occasionally, but

my mom usually used the fly swatter on my butt. :spank:

[yurbud]

86. isn't that more unsanitary than painful? If it was bare-assed, that would be psychological torture

[LaraMN]

62. Spanked as a kid (w/ a hand), slapped as a jr. high/teenager,

and punched in the back of the neck on one particularly memorable occasion. Still rather mad about that one.
Always by my Mom, if I recall correctly.

[datasuspect]

63. my dad told me that mommy drinks because i cry.

[FedUpWithIt All]

64. Ping pong paddles broken on my behind...

a project i made in woodshop, belts with little metal stud thingy's...pretty much anything within reach. ;)

[trof]

65. Hand, switch, paddle, finally belt.

And I was really a pretty good kid.
Mischievous and curious, maybe.
"Wonder what'll happen if I...OH GOSH!"

Ideas about how to discipline were a lot different back then.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

66. I was hit once, partially by accident, with a hairbrush.

But I have no memory of my parents intentionally hitting me, and if they did, it certainly was only once or twice in all 15 years of my existence.

[devilgrrl]

67. My mother's parenting skills rivaled Joan Crawford

She was a jerk. :-(

[Sugar Smack]

69. Your mother and my mother.

:hug: Dad dumped her & got custody at a time when it was really hard for a man to get custody. Thank god for that.

[tigereye]

70. mostly my mom brandished a wooden spoon

but she never used it.... I use loss of privileges with my son.


I really don't understand why parents would think that hitting will make their kids behave. It doesn't make any sense to me.

[REP]

72. Bamboo Switches; Not Sure If That Qualifies as a Spanking or Whupping

Not kidding.

[Porcupine]

120. Bamboo switches, belt, hand, fist, hairbrush and garden hose.

If you hit a kid near me you're going down!.

[Spirochete]

73. Mostly with a belt or switch

Sometimes with those sticks ballons came attached to. Once my mother told me to go out and cut a switch to spank me with. I came back with a really flimsy reed. She said "you can't be serious!" and went out and cut about half a dozen herself.
I was very unhappy when they stopped spanking me - spanking didn't really bother me very much - and began taking away privileges instead. I thought they weren't "playing fair". "Look, I did this bad thing, and I'm supposed to get hit so-many times for it. What do you mean I can't watch TV or go out of the house? That's not part of the program!"

[JackBeck]

76. "Mickey Mouses Magic Wand".

Name my mom gave to her wooden spoon.

And my dad spanked with his belt and hand.

I will never spank my kids.

[WhollyHeretic]

77. I was never spanked as a kid

and I've never spanked my son.

[Lyric]

78. I got threatened more than actually spanked.

I was smart enough to heed the threats. I only recall one *serious* spanking. I was 6 years old, and the boy next door (also 6) and I found some dirty magazines in his parents' bedroom. We decided to try doing what the folks in the magazine were doing (totally innocent, hell we were SIX) and my Mom found us both naked on the sliding board in my backyard. I have NEVER seen her that angry/horrified. I got beaten and then beaten some more, screamed at that I was "disgusting" and "dirty" and "don't you EVER do something like that again!!!!!!!!".

It's amazing I managed to become a sexually functioning adult after that. It's one of the reasons I am VERY careful to never ever do or say anything to give my own six-year old "issues" about sex and nudity.

[Control-Z]

79. Yeah, my dad did most

of the really bad shit already mentioned by too many of you dear DUers up-thread. And I guess I'm not the only one with a sibling who "doesn't remember" either.

The first time my sister, as an adult, denied my father's abuse in front of another family member who had witnessed it - to my mother and to the two of us when we were very young, I about fell off my chair.

His abuse played a major role in our mother's death. It's been documented. But she holds my mom accountable.

I was eventually placed in a foster home because of his violence. I'm not sure how she doesn't remember - sometimes I wonder...he treated her differently - she was older and didn't get on his nerves the way I did...but I guess we all just have our own way of dealing. She has so few memories of our childhood. I used to think she was the lucky one. I am no longer sure.

[Redstone]

80. I wasn't spanked. I was beaten. There's a difference.

Redstone

[MrCoffee]

110. a world of difference.

i know exactly what you mean.

[Roon]

81. My Mother used to threaten us with a yardstick

but she never used it.

[Deja Q]

89. 44 people so far, got spanked somethin' awful, and not in a good or kinky way.

:(

(I made 45)

[yurbud]

95. I think some of those people who like it in a kinky way got smacked at some critical period in their

development...or they are really, really, bored.

[MsKandice01]

90. Occasional spanks with the hand, even less spanks with a belt

Nothing particularly traumatic. The punishments/restrictions I was put on are far more memorable. Some of these stories are so heartbreaking.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

91. We were spanked with hands, belts, paddles, switches...

And then we were treated like shit by our mother. We just HAD to have long hair, and then she'd brush it because apparently we were too stupid to do it ourselves. She'd yank the brush through our hair, and I had a very tender head. My dad once told me she was not happy unless we were crying before we went to school in the morning. That's why he was so mellow with us, because my mother was enough of a bitch for the both of them. I swear I didn't get to sleep over at anyone's house until I was in junior high, and the first time I had someone sleep over I was in the 8th grade. And that was only because dad made her. And God forbid I became friends with someone of a different race. She'd flip her lid. I missed out on a lot of things because of the way she behaved. I had no social skills until I was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL.
Duckie

[Pied Piper]

92. Spanked

But, here's the caveat: it was only with a paint stirrer (paddle), and only administered by Mom. She was (is) too short to reach on top of the fridge, where the paint paddle was stored, so when we were in trouble, she would grab a chair and carry it over to the fridge. By this time, my sister and I were to busy laughing to take it seriously. My mom would have tears in her eyes while she gave us half-hearted swats, we could hardly stop from laughing ourselves.

I think their point was, "I'm in charge here, and if I wanted to, I could inflict damage...". But, of course, they never did. And you know what? We always understood that Mom and Dad were the bosses, and yet neither of us suffered any damage. The whole charade gave them the authority, and it gave us a better understanding of who's calling the shots. Whenever we did actually get paddled, Mom would hold back the tears, and we held back the laughter. But nonetheless, we understood who made the rules.

I have no problem with children being spanked (as long as it's not violent). It worked for me and my sister, by showing us who held the power. The spankings NEVER hurt, but were merely a show of power. And you know what? I'm OK with that. Flame away. Both my sister and I grew up to be responsible adults who treat children with respect. Once I saw my brother-in-law administer a spanking to my young nephew - it was similar to the "slow clap" we give to uninteresting comedians - a show of power without any real violence. And guess what, my nephews have a real respect for their "elders" and neither of them has been physically (or psychologically) damaged.

Now, before you disrupters go on about "Violence begets violence", remember that I said these interaction were NON-VIOLENT. Merely a show of power.

Now, if you want to talk about belts, or switches, and the woodshed, I have a completely different idea...

And here it's about time for the "No-Fun-Nancies" to come out and tell me what a horrible person I am for even believing in such things...:eyes:

[wain]

93. The last time my father and I laughed

The belt broke as he hit me across the buttocks (it didn't hurt anymore).

Strange. It was the world he was brought up in. His father kept a bull whip on the dining room chair (although I understood he never used it). The lore is that my dad took the bull whip and buried it.

In raising my two boys, spanking was not part of my disciplinary routine.

[yurbud]

94. I thought of putting in bullwhip, but it seemed too comically extreme...

I don't think my mom every spanked me hard enough to hurt me even when she wanted too, and I'd just laugh.

[femmocrat]

96. I was in the "ignore" category.

I was the oldest and they were too busy spoiling the younger children.

[u4ic]

100. 3, 7, and 9

Father and an older sister. I remember a bit, but not a lot of my childhood.

Did it do me any good? You're joking, right?

[Bassic]

106. That must have been horrible.

:(

:hug:

[u4ic]

119. Not the best time of my life, no

Thanks for the hug, Bassic. :hug:

I vowed I would never hit a person (unless self defence), but I wouldn't want to be anyone to try any of that crap on me as an adult (which has not happened, btw). They'd better have some damn good health insurance.;)

[Bassic]

124. Damn straight.

I wish you the best of luck.

[NNadir]

101. My parents hit me, and on occassion used a belt.

It was in the 1950's, though, and that sort of behavior was very common.

I don't think that my parents were being cruel or abusive as it might be understood today, but the action was partially cultural and partially religious, the "spare the rod, spoil the child..." stuff.

I had a brief episode of church going when my oldest son was born - I did it to integrate him into the family though I was and am an atheist. One of the interesting sermons I heard in that time was from a young woman priest who wrote that the "rod" was not a stick for beating but a rod intended to steer or guide sheep. I never thought of it that way. It was a great sermon and made me feel differently about religion although it certainly didn't convince me to believe in God.

Believe it or not, even in this late age, we got pressure from my in laws to hit my kids. Of course we told them to fuck off and mind their own damn business - though not exactly in those words (although I wanted to use them.)

My sons, 7 and 12 now, turned out great. They are very gentle people and we are very proud of them. They give us almost no trouble whatsoever. They are considerate and they listen very well to instruction. They can't believe that anyone would ever hit their children.

[LoZoccolo]

102. My dad spanked me with his hand, but I banged him up with a thick dowel...

...the last time he ever beat my mother. He didn't even retaliate one bit; it was like he knew he deserved it. Never had a problem with him again.

[gemdem]

103. It was the 60's and early 70's

Rarely spanked by Mom -- she usually stood us in corners for what seemed like forever. If she spanked it was generally a swat with her hand or a yard stick -- in the scheme of things nothing major at the time.

Dad on the other hand used the belt. It didn't matter the offense. I almost always got it worst because I was the oldest -- sometimes even if I had done nothing wrong. I sometimes was punished for doing all the chores because my siblings wouldn't do their share and I wanted to protect them from his anger. It was worst if you were the sole target or the first target -- he wore down if he had to punish more than two of us (there were five kids).

I would sometimes end up with raised welts and bruises -- up my back and down my thighs. I sometimes had to wear long pants in the summer to hide the marks. Other kids in my middle class neighborhood took their licks from their parents, too, so at the time I took it for granted that other kids had it just as bad or worse -- you knew who had gotten it by how they walked (nothing was ever said). Throw Catholic guilt on top of this and it's a wonder that I made it to adulthood. I'm 45.

Dad is 66 and has no memory of any of this and my sibs very rarely talk about it (we've moved on). By and large, I've forgiven my dad and we have a decent relationship this days -- closer than I thought I'd be with him at this point (my mom's death 20+ years ago may have something to do with this), but by no means tight.

Mostly I lecture or ground my kids. Occasionally they get a swat or spanking (brief and open hand) -- but so help me God, they'll never know the feeling of a belt on their backsides. I don't like to spank because of all that I went through. I must be doing something right, because my four kids (5, 7, 13, 15) are all pretty good kids and they're tight with their old man -- me. :-)

[Bassic]

105. The things some parents will do...

This thread makes me sad. :cry:

My parents spanked me very rarely, and it never actually hurt. I can't even imagine hitting my son with any sort of weapon.

[Mutley]

109. I was spanked by hand a couple of times

I also got the belt once. My sister got the worst of the physical punishment. For me, my parents enjoyed the psychological warfare the most.

[MissMillie]

114. a spanking is always done w/ an open hand

anything else is a beating, and yes there is a difference.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

115. My mom once broke a wooden spoon over my butt.

Sometimes they went physically and emotionally overboard...especially my dad. I hold no grudges...They only did as they were taught; and maybe even not as severely. I try to use my experience as a lesson in how not to parent; but I'm no model of perfection either.

[yurbud]

116. I forgot an option: Did your mom pull you off ground by one arm, shake and yell at you...

in the middle of a Kmart?

I always wonder how those kids turn out.

[fladonkey]

117. My mother....

who was in the Marines by the way, used to give us the silent treatment (now called a time out). She literally would not talk to us.

[yurbud]

118. that disturbs me as an adult. I'd rather have someone punch me.

[u4ic]

122. In my teenage years,

the same happened with my father. Changed his M.O. I think the longest was 6 months, while living in the same house. :eyes:

I detest mind games.

[chknltl]

121. Brooms and vacuum cleaner tubes...

...brooms had a bad habit of breaking, often, so my parents discovered the economic advantages of using the metal vacuum cleaner tubes. They dented sometimes but never broke!
Did it do any good? Well it served to relieve a tiny bit of anger and tension in my parents I think.
(They attempted to relieve stress in this way often, at least 3 times a week).

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

123. Wooden Spoons, Plastic Spoons, Whipped With Electrical Cords, Buckles Of A Belt,

That'll do for now LOL

[tinfoilinfor2005]

125. Woof. At age sixty, I still have a faint scar left over from age sixteen.

From a belt buckle.

My father is European (Yes, he is still with us and will be eighty five this year)...I still love him, but I spent most of my life running away from him because honestly he terrified me. You don't even know the half of it.

[yurbud]

126. is the scar somewhere other than ass?

[Saphire]

128. fly swatter....

[greatauntoftriplets]

129. My mother would occasionally spank me....with hands.

Once when I was about four, she was threatening to spank me for some minor infraction. I managed to grab a book and shove it into my underpants.

:evilgrin:

God was she surprised.

[Redstone]

130. Actually, beaten. With a lot of things.

Redstone

[SocratesInSpirit]

131. My father hit me

with a belt when I was quite young. As I grew older, he mainly hit me with an open hand, on the butt, very hard. It really, really hurt. During the summer, when I wore shorts because of the hot weather, he would hit me with a flyswatter on my bare legs. I feared and hated my father, and was very happy when my parents divorced and I didn't have to live with him anymore. I did, unfortunately, have to visit him on weekends.

He still continued to hit me. It never occured to me that I could tell my mother, and I wouldn't have to visit him anymore. The last time he ever did anything to me was when I was about 14, when he kicked me in the face. The worst part is that my younger sister witnessed this, and told me it wasn't a big deal, because he "didn't kick me that hard."

But my father knew he had crossed the line, because he was very apologetic and begged me not to tell my mother. Like a fool, I did as he wished and did not tell anyone for a very long time.

I am in therapy now, largely because of these things. My father knows I am in therapy, and wonders why, but I am not ready to tell him the truth. I think he might suspect that he is part of the reason, but for now he wants to pretend everything is a-ok and does not ask me too many questions.

Consequently, I get very touchy whenever I hear someone say it is okay to hit a child.